


Grace Alone

by ONeillwith2ls



Series: Episode tags [19]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s07e13 Grace, Episode: s07e15 Chimera (Stargate), F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24337330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ONeillwith2ls/pseuds/ONeillwith2ls
Summary: The after math of Sam's mission on board the 'Prometheus' has very different consequences for Jack.
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill, Samantha "Sam" Carter/Pete Shanahan
Series: Episode tags [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1652002
Comments: 10
Kudos: 35





	Grace Alone

**Author's Note:**

> I know I know I've been a bit radio silent! I am working through some stuff and getting to read some of my favourite people in advance.
> 
> As always these beautiful characters are not mine they belong to Stargate. Parts of this you'll recognise from that horrendous heartbreaking eposide of Chimera, I may never forgive those beautiful writers, but there's no copywrite intended, it belongs to STARGATE!
> 
> And again if you want to chat/comment use the fields below and thanks for the kudos!

“Colonel?” Jack heard his title, but didn’t respond, his eyes fixed, his entire being a quiet storm. “Jack.” it was only with a hand to his shoulder he looked up and saw General Hammond there. “How is she?”

“They-um, they have her on a lot of meds, she’s not woken, they talked about forcing a coma to let her body heal but she’s still unconscious.” 

“You’ve not left her side Colonel, maybe let one of your team take over--” Jack shook his head. “Just to get some sleep.”

“I--I don’t need--” he shook his head. 

“Jack--” he started.

“I--I can’t keep doing this.” he admitted. “Don’t you get it, I nearly lost her again!” He snapped helplessly, “I--I can’t keep doing this!” he said, shaking his head.

“Jack be careful what you--” George started.

“I want to retire.” Jack told him. “When she wakes, I’ll write up the papers.”

George took a deep breath “All this to be with her?” 

Jack shrugged and slid his hand under hers “I don’t get to do this even get to touch her to comfort her.” Jack said quietly. “I just want a chance.” he continued “I’ll tell her once the papers get through.” he told Hammond. “I don’t want to--”

“Get her hopes up.” Hammond said with a grin.

Jack paused for a moment “or mine.” he said quietly slipping his hand back out. 

Hammond looked seriously again “Jack.” he tried again. “I’m sorry, the toll this is taking on you, on her, this assignment--”

“I know, I know, this has lasted longer than we thought, and we’re both too important to the programme to let go--” he took a deep sigh.

“Any other assignment and you wouldn’t still be her CO.” Hammond admitted.

“They’d take her away from me.” Jack said quietly “I’m not sure which one is worse, being around her 24 hours a day but not being with her, or being with her but not around her-- it hurts like hell when she’s away.” he admits “then they bring her home like this, broken and bruised, and my only wish is that I was there to protect her, like I might have prevented this somehow.”

“You can’t, not even as her CO be there all the time.”   
“I know.” Jack said quietly. “Makes me long for the days where it was SG-1 on some unknown planet camping out at some god forbidden ruin Daniel took a fancy to.”

“Even then Jack, you knew it wasn’t going to be simple.”

Jack paused heavily for a moment looking up at Sam he said even quieter “Every other person on this rock gets to be with the people they love, they get to choose to fall in love. Its insane this wasn’t by choice it just--”

“Happened?” Hammond asked him.

“I was in trouble the moment she walked into that briefing room.”

Hammond chuckled “I noticed.” Hammond shrugged away Jack’s concerned face with “You’re an excellent team, you rarely find a team which works like SG-1. As long as you could control it--”

“I’m tired.” Jack admitted, Hammond knew he didn’t mean physically. “And I don’t want to anymore.”

* * *

It had been a couple of weeks since he had handed in his papers, Hammond had told Jack the decision wouldn’t come by lightly but even since then she had been on  Kelowna saving the planet from certain destruction. He might have lost her again! He wasn’t sure how much longer he could wait. 

He pressed the button in the elevator wondering if he should tell her what he was planning. Wondering if she heard his thoughts she appeared as the doors opened to reveal her and Daniel.

“ **Talk to you later, okay?** ” she said quietly to Daniel.

Daniel walks off. Carter enters the elevator with him.

. The doors close and she starts humming. His stomach gives a huge lurch and he looks at her sadly before she stops and notices him noticing her.

“ **Humming?”** he asked her

**“I am?”** She questioned him

**“You are.”** he replied quickly.

**“Sorry.”** she told him. Jack felt the pit in his stomach pain him further, they stood awkwardly for a few seconds before he asked;

**“** **What's his name?”**

**“Now, why would—?”** she started as if offended.

**“Humming.”** he said simply. Almost eight years he knew Samantha Carter, never once had she hummed like that

**“Pete.”** she told him.

**“Pete.”** he echoed, he felt dumbly, but in pain.

**“Pete Shanahan, he's a cop.”** she tells him.

_ ‘Tell a joke break the tension Tell a joke break the tension’  _ he chanted to himself for a moment before he managed “ **Speeding again, are we?”**

**“He's from Denver. He's a friend of my brother's.”** she clarified

**“A setup?”** he questioned, to be pushed aside for a man she had some kind of connection with was one thing, but a setup by a relative who knew nothing of her tastes or likes, Sam herself had said long ago she and Mark were never close, despite them healing the breach there was no way the guy could know Sam’s--

**“Pathetic, I know.”** Sam started,

_ ‘No that's not what I'm thinking’ was what he thought but instead  _ **“No, it's great.”** came out, he supposed it was after all, she seemed happy, she was  _ humming _ .

**“Really?”** she said as if to ask him

**“Isn't it?”** he replied confused by her reply. If she had wanted the same as him, surely she would still be waiting for him.

**“Well, it's not serious or anything.”** Sam told him

**“And yet… it is… hum-worthy.”** Jack  _ knew  _ what that meant.

**“Sir—”** she started.

Anything, and he meant anything starting with ‘Sir’ was going to break him. “ **Carter, it's none of my business. I'm just happy that you're happy about something else then…”** he could be happy for her, he loved her if she was happy that was enough.  **“Quarks.”** He ended, pleased with himself. She looked at him surprised, Jack wanted to end the tension **“Not bad with quarks, huh?”**

She nods at him humorously **“Excellent.”**

Another awkward pause ensured, the women he loved didn’t want him. Of course it was going to be awkward. “ **Bit uncomfortable, isn't it?”** he managed to choke out.

**“Yeah, a bit.”** said the woman who held his heart in her hands and was currently stomping it in the elevator shaft.

The elevator doors opened and he walked out, managing a  **“Good luck.”** over his shoulder.

**“Thank you, sir.”** he heard from behind.

Jack felt the doors close behind him; he stood with his back to the wall convinced he would fall over if he didn’t. Regret filled his veins and pumped through his nervous system. 

He’d waited too long.

* * *

A few hours later he made it up to Hammond’s office he knocked on the door. “Come in” he heard the Texan accent. 

“Sir,” Jack said with a nod to Hammond, “I need to withdraw my request for retirement.” Jack said quietly, not looking at Hammond choosing to look at a random point on Hammond’s table.

“Oh?” Hammond asked, looking concerned. 

“She’s met someone,” Hammond stood in surprise “they’re making her happy.” 

Hammond and Jack stood looking at each other for a moment before Hammond said softly “Jack--”

“But hey, I get to watch her sixes still right?” he stated, “at least I can still make sure she’s safe.”

They stood silently again for a few seconds “I had an answer for you too.” Hammond said quietly “I put it as a hypothetically to them, so--”

“No, I um, I’d rather not know.” Jack said. “This way it's um that cat principle right, that guy with the cat in the box.” Jack tried, “You know, so I’ll never know.” Jack finally looked up at Hammond “this way, she’s happy--she’s happy.”


End file.
